Her first LP, produced by R Kelly. 11 tracks, plus the intro and a bonus remix of the single "Back & Forth", also includes the title track, "No One Knows How To Love Me Quite Like You Do", 'Street thing", "Old School" and "I'm Down". LP, Vinyl record album

Mid 80s soul from Detroit's Colonel Abrams –one of the first artists to take the then burgeoning house sound into the mainstream – paired up with nicely grooving modern soul vibe! Includes the his "Trapped" and "I'm Not Gonna Let", with those bright and bumping ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

The only full album from Johnny Ace – a key figure in the Memphis scene of the 50s, and one of the first great casualties of rock and roll! Johnny was one of the first singers to record for the legendary Duke label, and worked in a mode that helped transform the smoother style of the west ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Patrick Adams takes on the Michael Jackson catalog and comes up with a disco-fied instrumental medley of MJ's most well known numbers including "I Want You Back", "Got To Be There", "ABC", "Wanna Be Startin'Something", "I'll Be There", "Beat ... read more12-inch, Vinyl record

A well titled album for the group, as they seem to come on here stronger than ever – really burning with a firm approach to the dancefloor, one that comes across with less of the gimmicks than you might expect from a major label funk act at the time! The album's produced by Mass Production, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Massive funk from the ADC Band – some lesser-known cats from the early 80s scene on Atlantic Records – but a group with a sense of soul and power that knocks over most of their contemporaries! For those who've ever doubted the influence of P-Funk on the rest of soul music, you only ... read moreCD

Incredible work from the obscure African Music Machine – a southern funk combo led by bassist Louis Villery – a legendary batch of funky singles, finally brought together as a full album! The band has a very unique sound that involves a lot of rolling bubbling basslines, spacey organ ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A killer album of Afro Funk – with a very unusual origin! In the wake of Manu Dibango's big hit (and some kind of failure to register the copyright), many many versions of "Soul Makossa" were recorded and released, some good, some bad. This album is a good example of that ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A distant star in the Earth Wind & Fire galaxy – and the only album by this sweetly grooving group that owed a lot to the EWF sound! The record's produced by Verdine White, executive produced by Maurice White, and even features a bit of guest vocals by Philip Bailey – and the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

(Includes the original inner sleeve. Cover has light edgewear, a bumped corner and some marker scribbling near the top.)

A mindblower – and the kind of record we only come across once in a blue moon! Tony Aiken & Future 2000 were an obscure mid 70s group from New York – all players skilled in the burgeoning club scene of the time, but who also had their roots in Caribbean music – coming ... read moreCD

A great little record from Rance – recorded in 1980 on his return to Stax after a stint at Capitol. The set's got a really wonderful feel – all the deep soul of Rance's early albums for Stax, mixed with some of the bubbling touches he picked up from working with Larry Mizell at Capitol. ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

An oft-overlooked album that Rance and group recorded during a return to Stax after their record on Capitol with Larry Mizell. The groove here is more tightly produced than on their earlier Stax LPs, with more of a modern soul sound, and more of an orientation towards a dancefloor beat – but ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful mix of gospel soul and heavy Memphis production – and the kind of heavy soul album that made Rance Allen one of Stax's best new artists during the 70s. David Porter produced and arranged, and the album has some great electric keyboard work by Rance that provides a perfect ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

The only album ever from Allspice – but a hell of an incredible soul record – and one that's kept the group's name strong with collectors and rare groove fanatics for years! The album's on of the best Fantasy Records productions by Wayne Henderson and his At Home team – and like ... read moreCD

A whole new level of genius for Herb Alpert – a record that's light years away from his earlier work with the Tijuana Brass, and which has the trumpeter stepping strongly into the world of smooth jazzy fusion! The title track here went platinum the minute it was released – and became ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A lost album from Alzo – best known as one half of the Latin/folk/free soul duet Alzo & Udine – but sounding equally great on his own! The tracks are from sessions that Alzo recorded with arranger/producer Bob Dorough (who cut some of his own great work at the time) – and ... read moreCD

An 80s groove classic! This track has a killer sound that mixes bass-heavy funk with a tight electric keyboard sound – and it rips along nicely with a very catchy hook. The cut's one of our all-time favorites from this time, and it's got a hard funky groove that keeps on going! 12-inch, Vinyl record

An album that begins with an amazing break – and then rolls into a great batch of fuzzy guitar grooves! The set is one of the odder albums to be issued by Chess Records during its funk years – as American Gypsy were a Dutch band, recording in Holland, and the record was only licensed ... read moreCD

A hell of a great record from Ruby Andrews – a Chicago soul singer who started out sweet, but comes on hard and heavy on this righteous classic from the start of the 70s! The record's got a badass vibe you never would have expected from Andrews a few years before – with tremendous ... read moreCD

Two rare female soul sets – each recorded a two decades apart, each handled by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams! First up is a very obscure later date from Chicago soul singer Ruby Andrews – a set that's almost equal parts blues and soul, and which often features that updated ... read moreCD

A killer lost disco album – a way better club set than you might expect! The group looks extremely silly on the cover – ridiculously so, in fact – but the record's a stunning batch of jazzy club tracks with a mostly instrumental groove, and a very tight feel – not at all ... read moreCD

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that ... read moreCD

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A pair of great albums from this Norman Connors side project! Fantasy is righteous soul, but with a wicked groove too – a killer set from Aquarian Dream, made even better by some great Norman Connors production! In a way, Aquarian Dream were to Norman Connors what Ramp were to Roy Ayers ... read moreCD

Fantastic funky soul from Steve Arrington – the drummer who got his start in Slave, then really exploded on his own with a host of great records in the 80s! This batch of tracks is from those key initial solo years – and the set not only features all the key cuts that Steve recorded ... read moreCD

Fantastic funky soul from Steve Arrington – the drummer who got his start in Slave, then really exploded on his own with a host of great records in the 80s! This batch of tracks is from those key initial solo years – and the set not only features some of the key cuts that Steve ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from this Chicago soul group – a set that brings together all the beautiful best the Artistics recorded for Brunswick Records! At the label, the group had that soaring, lilting vibe that virtually defined the Chicago group sound at the end of the 60s – a bit more punch than ... read moreCD

One of The Artistics' most beautiful albums for Brunswick – and the one that includes the title song that was perhaps their greatest single! "I Want You To Make My Life Over" is a classic bit of Chicago soul – done at a level that really sums up all the sophisticated changes ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

The songbird that keeps The Inc afloat returns! This third full length is once again produced by the Inc staff of 7 Aurlelius, Chink Santana and features appearances by Ja Rule and TI. Tracks include "Still Down" feat TI, "Only U", "Focus", "Don't Let Them" ... read moreCD

A lost blacksploitation treasure – and the only soundtrack we've ever seen from Motown funky drummer Jack Ashford! The album cooks with a sweet and tight groove – kicking back with a wah-wah heavy instrumental approach on some tracks, and sweeping things up with soulful female vocals ... read moreCD

One of the coolest club records ever cut – and one with a great gimmick too! That gimmick is the "hotel sheet" – an instrument created by percussionist Jack Ashford, which is a light piece of metal that's snapped back and worth to create these cool wibbly, wobbly waves of ... read moreCD

A mid 70s winner from Ashford & Simpson – one of their earlier efforts, and a record that finds them fleshed out as a top notch act of their end – even if it'd be yeas before they'd net the kind of huge chart success that they deserved! Come As You Are is filled with solid soul ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Always-great work from the team of Ashford & Simpson – the kind of a record that has them at the top of their game, even though they'd changed their overall sound over the years! The vibe here is more in an 80s groove mode than some of the duo's Warner albums, but they've still got an ... read moreCD

By this point, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson are firmly holding the foreground as artists in their own right after many years of acting as songwriters for other soul and R&B hitmakers, and this self produced album continues in their tradition of sophisticated soul and rich balladry. With a ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Darn solid work from Ashford & Simpson – one of the duo's biggest albums for Capitol Records, and a great set from their 80s run for the label! The groove here is a bit more heavy on keyboards and beats than before, but the pair still keep things plenty soulful with their positive, ... read moreCD

Dang, these guys could never miss! Even in later years, Ashford and Simpson were still going strong – working here in a wonderfully mellow style that's as soulful for the moment as their mid 70s groovers were for that time. The album's got a sweet modern style that's pretty much in the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A mid 80s classic from Atlantic Starr – at the height of their catchy commercial fame – bouncing along with rhythms that crossover nicely to the mainstream, yet still keep a bit of their previous funky edge intact! The groove here is almost in the style that Atlantic Starr inspired in ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

The title's certainly right on this one – because Atlantic Starr serve up a really brilliant blend of electro funk and mainstream soul – balanced with that near-perfect sound that made them one of the best groups of their generation! Despite the size of the combo, the sound is ... read moreCD

The title's certainly right on this one – because Atlantic Starr serve up a really brilliant blend of electro funk and mainstream soul – balanced with that near-perfect sound that made them one of the best groups of their generation! Despite the size of the combo, the sound is ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Atlantic Starr definitely get straight to the point on this set – bursting out strongly with an upbeat groove from the very first note – all produced to perfection by maestro Bobby Eli, in the same manner as some of his other great late 70s work for other artists! The group's a big one ... read moreCD

Atlantic Starr definitely get straight to the point on this set – bursting out strongly with an upbeat groove from the very first note – all produced to perfection by maestro Bobby Eli, in the same manner as some of his other great late 70s work for other artists! The group's a big one ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

The image on the cover is a great summation of the Aurra magic – a sweet blend of male and female vocals with plenty of soul – woven together in ways that are quite different from more cliched duet modes of earlier years! The grooves are at the center of the record – set out ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

(Includes the printed inner sleeve. Cover has some wear and pen on front.)

Smooth jazzy soul from Patti Austin – pulled from her classic late 70s recordings for CTI! Patti brought a new sophistication to soul music during the time, working in a generation with singers like Jean Carn and Marlena Shaw to forge a whole new style of modern R&B. Some of Patti's ... read moreCD

Sweet smooth late 70s soul from Patti Austinlive at the Bottom End, with David Spinozza on guitar, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, and more. Tracks include "You Fooled Me", "Jump For Joy", "Rider In The Rain", "Let's All Live & Give Together", "Love ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Classy soul from Patti Austin – working here with some great help from Quincy Jones, Narada Michael Walden, and others – all of whom help her find just the right space to groove nicely! Patti's one of those soul singers who always sparkles best in a smoother setting – and the ... read moreCD

A nice little collection of work by Patti – featuring tunes that run back to one of her first singles, and includes 70s work with Quincy Jones, CTI recordings, and famous duets from later years! Titles include "The Family Tree", "Razzamatazz", "Do You Love Me?", ... read moreCD

Roy Ayers in a very Afro-styled mode – working here on his own after a famous collaboration with Fela Kuti – in a set that's filled with the same sort of hard-driving Afro-Funk grooves that you'd find in Fela's classic recordings! The songs are shorter than Fela's, and with more of Roy' ... read moreCD

What can we say? This is one of the greatest soul soundtracks ever! In a market that was dominated by the big-selling Shaft and Superfly albums, Roy slipped in this masterful blend of jazzy vibes and wah wah funk that's easily one of the best-composed records of the blacksploitation genre! The ... read moreCD

What can we say? This is one of the greatest soul soundtracks ever! In a market that was dominated by the big-selling Shaft and Superfly albums, Roy slipped in this masterful blend of jazzy vibes and wah wah funk that's easily one of the best-composed records of the blacksploitation genre! The ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

One of Roy Ayers' biggest albums ever! The whole thing's an incredible album of mellow jazzy soul – and it shows Roy at the crossroads, perfecting his earlier funk style with a sweet mellow R&B edge, getting a bit slicker, but still staying on the righteous path, and opening up a whole ... read moreCD

One of Roy Ayers' biggest albums ever! The whole thing's an incredible album of mellow jazzy soul – and it shows Roy at the crossroads, perfecting his earlier funk style with a sweet mellow R&B edge, getting a bit slicker, but still staying on the righteous path, and opening up a whole ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Stellar sounds from the great Roy Ayers – an early 80s album for Polydor, but a set that's still got the wonderfully tight, wonderfully groovy feel of his late 70s albums for the label! Roy's really perfected his sense of balance by this time – and does a great job of balancing ... read moreCD

One of the rarest and greatest Roy Ayers albums of all time – the sly, funky and spiritual masterpiece He's Coming from 1971 – really the beginning of the funk years from Roy Ayers Ubiquity! This one's a totally solid mix of soulful jazz, jazzy soul and righteous funk – and it's ... read moreCD

Roy Ayers in a seductive mid 80s mode – his first for Columbia – and a record with some incredibly nice moments that blow away most of his contemporaries! The synth soul and drum machine era might seem like an odd fit for Roy's jazzy vibes, but it actually works really well here! You ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

One of Roy Ayers' best-remembered albums of the 70s – a sublime blend of mellow numbers and some of his more club-oriented grooves of the time – all wrapped together with a genius that we can only describe as Ayers-like! The album's a beautiful example of the balance that Roy was ... read moreCD

An archetypal album by Roy – and one that really shows him at the turning point! Gone are the trippier jazz funk moments of earlier albums – and in their place are some tight grooves and wonderfully spacey soul. Roy hits the dancefloor with one of his first uptempo funk numbers "B ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

An oft-overlooked funky soul gem from the incredible Roy Ayers – taking turns with both uptempo material and more smoothed out soul sounds – all done with Roy's trademark jazzy approach to the dancefloor! No Stranger To Love is a sly, and often funky set that deserves to be mentioned ... read moreCD

An oft-overlooked funky soul gem from the incredible Roy Ayers – taking turns with both uptempo material and more smoothed out soul sounds – all done with Roy's trademark jazzy approach to the dancefloor! No Stranger To Love is a sly, and often funky set that deserves to be mentioned ... read moreCD

Seminal early funk work from Roy Ayers! The record catches him at that perfect point when he was turning from a straight jazz player into a sinister force in 70s funk – and the group on the session includes super-hip soul jazz giants like Charles Tolliver, Sonny Fortune, and Harry Whitaker, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Seminal early funk work from Roy Ayers! The record catches him at that perfect point when he was turning from a straight jazz player into a sinister force in 70s funk – and the group on the session includes super-hip soul jazz giants like Charles Tolliver, Sonny Fortune, and Harry Whitaker, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A live set by Roy – and pretty darn nice! The album was recorded live at London's Ronnie Scotts in 1990 – but given that Roy was playing for a British crowd that was keen on his classic work of the 70s, the set's got a very 70s-styled feel – and really takes us back to the glory ... read moreCD

One of Roy Ayers' greatest albums of the 70s – a set that tightens up the groove from previous Polydor productions, yet still keeps all the soul intact! The record picks up the style begun with the Mystic Voyage album, and pushes it to some slightly tighter territory – a more focused ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

One of Roy Ayers' greatest albums of the 70s – a set that tightens up the groove from previous Polydor productions, yet still keeps all the soul intact! The record picks up the style begun with the Mystic Voyage album, and pushes it to some slightly tighter territory – a more focused ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A great little album from Roy Ayers – a very funky record that's almost all instrumental all the way through! The sound is a bit in the vein of Roy's Live At Montreux set – but funkier overall, thanks to some very heavy rhythms on the bottom – and an approach to the tunes that's ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

A funky classic from the team of Roy Ayers and Wayne Henderson – both at the top of their game here, and effortlessly mixing together jazz, funk, and soul! The record really seems to embrace the best of both artists' styles – some of the bassy groovers that Wayne did so well himself, ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

(Cover has some wear, a bit of sticker residue, a tiny rip at the opening, and some pencil scratches on the back.)

Talk about a meeting of the minds – a pair of ultra-amazing classics from the team of Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson – back to back in a single set! At the time of Step Into Our Life, Henderson & Ayers were probably the biggest names in the jazz funk business – both with a ... read moreCD

Fantastic! The lost link in the Chicago soul scene of the 60s was Baby Huey – and he was a pretty darn big link too, if you've ever seen him in pictures! Weighing in at about 300 pounds, Baby Huey was sort of a rockin' soul star who played clubs on both sides of the city, to audiences of ... read moreCD

A brilliant funky soundtrack – with great work from a number of different artists! The Buddah soul stable came out in full force for this soundtrack, including Harvy Fuqua, The New Birth, Barbara Mason, and Horace Ott – as well as the little known group Badder Than Evil! They play on ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Rockin soul from the legendary LaVern Baker – a killer collection of classic 50s work for Atlantic Records – tunes that went on to have an undeniable influence on the sound of female soul in the 60s! Baker's vocals are amazing right from the start – raw, but with a vocal range ... read moreCD

Bessie Smith by LaVern Baker – a great blend of modes that really comes off great! Instead of sounding like a throwback blues album, the set comes across with a nice degree of contemporary class – thanks in part to a jazzy presentation that's a bit different than some of Baker's other ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

(Black label pressing, with deep groove. Cover has light wear, a bumped corner, some fading along the spine, and a small stain on the back.)

A classic set of hard rockin R&B from Hank Ballard and the legendar Midnighters – as raw a batch of vocal group tracks you'd be hard pressed to find! The album features plenty of tunes from their "Annie" cycle of songs – including "Work With Me Annie", "Anni ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Lost funk rock from Ballinjack – the rare self-titled set for Columbia that's arguably best remembered for being so massively sampled – but the group that deserves a more widely-credited legacy! The sound is a bit like Mandrill on the best cuts, with the band going hard on the funky ... read moreCD

A lost classic in the funky poetry mode of the 70s – and right up there with the best work from the time by the Last Poets, Jim Ingram, or Gil Scott Heron! Bama's got a rough-edged voice that works very well with the funkier backings of the set – handled by a team that includes Bernard ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

One of the original Dramatics, singer Ron Banks strikes out here on his own – a slept on gem from the early 80s! The set's in a similar modern soul mode to LJ Reynolds, who also worked with him in the group, and was having a bit of a solo career of his own at the time. It's got sort of a D-T ... read moreCD

One of the original Dramatics, singer Ron Banks strikes out here on his own – a slept on gem from the early 80s! The set's in a similar modern soul mode to LJ Reynolds, who also worked with him in the group, and was having a bit of a solo career of his own at the time. It's got sort of a D-T ... read moreCD

A tighter sound than before for The Bar-Kays – that lean approach to funky grooves that some of their contemporaries were hitting as the 80s moved on – yet still served up here by the full ensemble with a relatively fresh feel overall. Amidst the beats and keyboards, there's still lots ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

Later Bar-Kays at their best – still plenty funky, but also working in a smoothly soulful style that became the group's trademark sound at Mercury! The album's got a real bass-heavy appeal from the start – working in a mode that shares a lot with Cameo, The Gap Band, and some of the ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album

(Includes the printed inner sleeve. Cover has light wear, aging and a sticker on the back.)